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December 2016

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Handwoven Pashmina shawls from the Kashmir region of northern India will now come with Geographical Indication (GI) mark that stands for quality assurance.

The Kashmir Pashmina GI mark, to be imprinted in the form of a label on every handwoven Kashmiri Pashmina shawl, was launched by Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the Testing and Quality Certification Centre at the Craft Development Institute (CDI) in Srinagar.

The new centre will imprint the GI mark/label on Kashmiri Pashmina shawls, after testing the originality of fabric, fineness of thread, spinning method and weaving technology.

The label would also indicate details of the manufacturer and the quality of the shawl. It would carry a number about which all details will be on the website.

Interacting with the Pashmina weavers, traders and other stakeholders in the trade, the Chief Minister said his endeavour is to restore the glory of the state’s handicrafts and bring economic prosperity to artisans, and added that all possible measures are being put into place in this regard.

“My effort is to remove all fake handicrafts being sold in the state in the name of Kashmir”, Mr. Abdullah said, and added that to start with spurious Pashmina shawls would be replaced by the Kashmir patent handwoven original Pashmina shawls and ensure respect and substantial remuneration to the weavers.

The CDI has been given a two-year target to replace all fake Pashmina shawls from the market ensuring cent percent labelling of handwoven patent Kashmir Pashmina so that a customer could easily identify the fake and the original Kashmir Pashmina shawls.

“When machine made and fake handicrafts are differentiated from handmade ones, the purchasers would buy the genuine items, thus giving boost to the economy of artisans,” the Chief Minister told the artisans.

India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999, which has come into force with effect from September 15, 2003.